Le Puits d’Amour by La Tarte Tropézienne

There is no single way of experiencing Love – it manifests itself through an array of earthly pleasures, which one must learn to find. There is one pastry which oozes pleasure like none other, a pit of voluptuousness, a temple of cream and silkiness which one inevitably, devotedly, comes back to. It is the Puit d’Amour (or “love well”). Let us throw ourselves upon the one on offer at the pastry shop La Tarte Tropézienne, which brings a slight twist on the traditional recipe.

This dessert is composed of a flaky pastry filled with the cream traditionally used in the Tarte Tropezienne, which blends together pastry cream and butter cream. At the bottom of the well we find a few fresh raspberries, whose presence is hinted at by the large raspberry perched atop the dessert’s caramelized cream surface.

The Puits d’Amour by La Tarte Tropézienne has a dimeter of 68 mm and a height of 67 mm, raspberry included. The specimen we purchased weights 159 grams and costs 4.50€.

The dominant smell emanating from this dessert is that of the flaky pastry, whose rim is slightly charred. A very fine layer of caramel is found on the surface of the cream, though it does not have the crunchiness one would find on a freshly flamed crème brûlée. The cream is rather rigid, and presents a neat surface upon being sliced. Its yellowish hue recalls the cream found in the shop’s Tarte Tropezienne. Moderately sweet, it would gain from being more unctuous and being flavored with vanilla seeds, to make it more interesting. Its caramelized surface leaves a pleasant caramel taste on the palate.

Fresh raspberries are incorporated in the cream at the bottom of the well, an original touch which makes the specificity of this Puits d’Amour. The berries retain their firmness and flavor, and add a welcome note of acidity in the midst of this profusion of cream. Finally, we clearly notice the taste of the flaky pastry’s burned edges. While the rest of the pastry appears to have been homogenously baked, it has become distinctively soggy, thus preventing any true contrast in texture with the cream.

VERDICT

This Puits d’Amour by La Tarte Tropézienne comes off as very heavy on cream – a smaller dessert with less cream would perhaps be more refined, allowing for a better balance between the quantity of cream and the cake’s other components. We would certainly appreciate a more unctuous cream, one which was less neat when being sliced. However, we do like the addition of fresh raspberries, whose tartness and texture contrast nicely with the surrounding cream. As for the flaky pastry, its nicely homogenous baking does not excuse its sogginess – we would have liked it to be crisp and flaky, featuring distinct layers.

Score: 3.4/5 Mediocre

Address:

3 Rue de Montfaucon, 75006 Paris
Open from Monday to Saturday from 10.30 am to 7.30 pm, and on Sunday from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm.
Tel: +331 43 29 09 81www.latartetropezienne.fr